Mine blast kills 3 soldiers in SE Turkey

ANKARA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Three soldiers of the Turkish security forces were killed and two others wounded Sunday when a mine, probably planted by the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), went off in southeast Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

The blast occurred while a military convoy was passing by in Semdinli town of Hakkari province, Hakkari Governor Muammer Turker was quoted as saying.

An operation was underway in the area to capture the PKK rebels, Turker said.

In a separate incident on Sunday, Turkish security forces killed two PKK militants as they attempted to plant a mine on a road near Hakkari's Daglica town, the governor said.

Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. More than 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK during the past over two decades.